Magical Misconceptions
by Maery
Summary: A sweet Neville/Luna ship. Neville is madly in love with Luna but has a very hard time asking her out. Reviews are greatly appreciated!


Magical Misconceptions

**Magical Misconceptions**

_A.N.: Ok so this is my first Harry Potter fanfiction! It's a Luna Lovegood and Neville Longbottom ship. I don't really know what I think of it myself but constructive criticism is always welcome. Please no flames. Thanks!_

"S.P.E.W." the sign tacked to the door read, "the first meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare will be held today for all who wish to help our persecuted allies." Neville pushed open the heavy door that opened to the room which was often occupied by Professor Flitwick's class. A large table had been placed in the center of the room on top of which lay a few rolls of parchment, several scattered textbooks, and piles upon piles of colorful, wooly yarn. He stumbled clumsily on his feet as he made his way toward the table. From behind the stacks of yarn Hermione Granger stood up, making herself visible.

"Welcome to the first meeting of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare!" she welcomed him heartedly. "Thank you for coming."

As Neville came closer two more figures became visible from behind the tower of string. One of which was a slightly disgruntled-looking Harry Potter who toyed with a chocolate frog wrapper in front of him, frowning. He greeted Neville as he approached but Neville did not hear him, he was too distracted by the other person who sat to the right of Harry reading the piece of parchment that lay in front of her.

It was Luna Lovegood who took Neville's breath away. She was so beautiful, so radiant. Her large blue eyes looked up at him and she waved eagerly.

"Hello Neville Longbottom!" she said

"He-OPE!" he stuttered as he slipped and fell face down on the hardwood floor.

Instantly he sprung back to his feet, dusting off his pants, trying to act as though nothing had happened. Luna smiled when he resurfaced and he instantly felt better, even the pain in his nose, which had smashed against the ground, seemed to dull.

"You alright? The floor is a bit slippery." she said.

"Er.. Yeah, F-fine thanks." he muttered, taking a seat beside Harry.

Hermione stood up and welcomed them all once more, saying something about equality and freewill but Neville wasn't listening. He was staring around Harry, admiring the way Luna's hair glistened in the light, the way her freckles danced across her rosy cheeks. _She was gorgeous_, he thought, _perfect_.

Suddenly she had slipped out of her chair and was crawling under the table.

"Has anyone see my quill?" her muffled voice called up, "Oh where has it gotten to?" she muttered.

"Luna, I have brought several extra quills that you could borrow." Hermione said.

"Well, I would like to find mine before it has gone too far." Luna explained. "You see I was practicing that spell McGonagall taught us, the one to transfigure a quill in to a rose, you know, and well I do think I got it slightly wrong… did anyone else's sprout legs?"

"You quill sprouted legs!" Hermione gasped. Harry stifled a laugh.

"Well yes and I would quite like it back because I seem to have lost almost all my other ones and I keep having to write father to send more but of course that is rather tiresome and-" she was cut off by Neville standing up and running across the room shouting "Look!". Maybe five feet in front of him a grey quill with fuzzy brown fur-covered legs was running in chaotic circles. Neville chased after it, having to dive to the ground to catch it.

"Neville Longbottom! Thank you so much!" she cried, hurrying over to him and wrapping him in a tight hug. He stumbled backwards feeling dizzy and blushing fiercely. "It's nothing" he mumbled, smiling goofily.

A half hour later, after learning the basics of hat and mitten making spells (and after Hermione cast a spell on Luna's elusive legged pen to make it stop jumping off the table), Neville had finally gotten the nerve to ask Luna out. On a date. He took in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, steadying his nerves.

"So, er.. Luna, I was th-" he was interrupted by Luna suddenly leaping out of her seat, a look of shock on her face.

"Oh Cockroach Clusters!" she cried, "I've just remembered, I forgot to put Penelope Pickles my pigmy puff back in her cage. I left her on my bed with a box of Bertie Botts Beans! Oh dear, if she eats even one of them it could make her very sick. She has to follow a strict diet of lima beans and raw potatoes and I fear that jelly beans have far too much sugar in them and… well I've got to go!" she finished, slipped her bag over her shoulder, and hurried out of the room.

The rest of the meeting consisted mostly of Hermione showing Harry the finer points of embroidering little hearts onto the rims of the hats that she made. "No, no Harry! You flick your wand first. No, don't twist. Flick.. Flick!" she was saying as Neville excused himself, ten minutes earlier than the set ending time. He wandered down the empty hall, feeling disheartened. He shuffled his feet, wishing he knew some spell that would make it easier for him to ask Luna out. _Hermione probably did,_ he thought, _too bad he hadn't thought to ask her._ Of course he didn't actually want things to go that way. He wanted to ask Luna out romantically, perfectly. But how could he if she was running away?

The next day, after an especially exhausting potions class, Neville slumped onto his bed for a quick nap. He awoke as the setting sun streamed in through the curtained window across the room from him. _The suns setting! It can't be that late already_, his scrambled mind thought. He slid out of bed and hurried down the dormitory steps to check the clock above the fireplace in the common room. It was 6:54, dinner surely was already being served. His stomach rumbled, the meal would be over soon, he had to run.

He rushed down hall after hall, moving as fast as his legs would take him, hoping to at least snag dessert. At the last corner before reaching the Great Hall, Neville turned quickly and collided with another person. Both of them were tossed to the ground, and praying that it hadn't been Professor Snape who he'd just run into, Neville stumbled to his feet.

"I'm sor-" he started, then "Luna!" as he around to come face to face with his crush.

"Hello Neville Longbottom! I'm sorry for running into you." she said brushing chunks of hair back into place.

"No, s'my fault... I'm sorry." he choked out, now wishing it had been Snape instead of Luna, to spare him from so much humility.

Luna didn't hurry off, she stayed where she was, playing with a charm on her necklace. _Now's your chance to redeem yourself. Say something! _He thought.

"So, um, how's Penelope.. your, um, pigmy puff?"

"Actually, she ate the entire box of Bertie Botts and though she didn't get sick, she has acquired a taste for the jelly beans and refuses to eat anything else." she replied.

Looking at her sweet face, her eyes wide with concern for her pet, Neville couldn't help himself. He blurted out, "Would you, um, like to maybe join me for a walk through the grounds?" _You couldn't have thought of anything else??_

"Oh that's an excellent idea!"

_Oh.. Really? Wow._

"I was just talking to Justin Finch-Fletchley and we were going to go out to the bushes by the Quidditch field once it gets dark to try to coax the pixies out of them for Hagrid. You should join us!"

_Well, not exactly what I had in mind but…_

"Yeah, sure" he replied.

"Great, I'll see you there in about half an hour." she said and skipped away.

Neville ate dinner quickly, having made it in time to still get a full meal and hurried across the grounds. When he got to the arranged spot nobody was there. Just as he was beginning to think they weren't going to show Hagrid came stomping over.

"Why hello Neville! Didn't expect to see you here." he called.

"I'm, er, waiting for someone." he said. Just then Luna trotted into view with Justin Finch-Fletchley in tow.

"Thanks fer comin' tonight Luna!" Hagrid boomed, "I really appreciate yer help." He held a brown paper bag out to Luna who took it. "The best way ter get out a pixie infestation without hurting 'em is to bribe 'em out with sweets." he said, "I've gotta go up to the castle. Thanks for yer help, it's savin' me a lot of work." he finished and walked toward the castle.

Luna opened the bag and peaked inside. "Lemon candies!" she exclaimed, holding out a handful of bright yellow droplets. While the three students attempted to coax the pixies out of hiding, Justin chatted unceasingly about the pixies who invaded his mothers garden last summer, and about potions class homework, and about pudding. Neville stared at the starry sky, stealing quick glances at Luna whenever he dared. After an hour of no success, the tired trio walked back to the castle, munching on the yellow candy on the way.

Two days passed and Neville feared that he would never get to be anything but friends with Luna. He thought about her all the time, she was even in his dreams. In an attempt to escape his own mind Neville wandered away from the castle during a free period. He found himself passing the greenhouses and the Womping Willow and heading towards the lake. He slouched under the shade of a cool tree by the lake, resting his head against the dark brown bark. It was so nice there, so peaceful.

As he sat there, a quiet singing blew off the gentle waves. _Where was that voice coming from?_ he wondered. Neville stood up and cupped his hand over his eyes to shield away the sun. In the distance a small speck of gold glimmered in the sunlight. He walked closer, as he did so the gold speck took shape, form, human form. At the same moment he realized where the song was coming from and who the shape was. And the answer to both was Luna Lovegood.

Feeling brave and inspired all of the sudden Neville ran across the lake shore to where Luna sat dipping her feet in the blue water.

"Luna hi! How are you?" he sputtered, talking too fast he was afraid she didn't understand him. But she did.

"I am very good, Neville Longbottom!" she said smiling up at him. She started humming and Neville sat down beside her. "I've been singing to the mermaids. They need the company, you know." She started singing softly again.

"It's beautiful." Neville whispered, "You're beau- Luna would you like to go to Hogsmeade on Saturday?" He blurted out.

"What a splendid idea!" she cried, "Ginny and I have been planning on heading to Honeydukes for quite some time. You see, I need more Bertie Botts for Penelope and she wanted.." she rambled but Neville was lost in his own thoughts. _She doesn't understand! She doesn't think I'm asking her on a date. What am I doing wrong? How do I tell her not to invite Ginny.. no I can't do that. Hmm, if I talk to Ginny, no that would be sneaky. God she's beautiful! God she's FRUSTRATING! _"And of course we would have to stop by Zonko's and-" she continued but Neville interrupted her.

"Luna! I've been trying to ask you out for the past 5 days and you haven't seemed to have caught on and it's frustrating cause I only want you and I've only ever wanted you and I have no idea how you feel about me but, Merlin help me, I think I'm falling in love with you!!" he pleaded then he went pale, realizing what he's just said. He had never been so bold in his life. He swallowed hard. _Why isn't she saying anything?_ A peaceful look had come over her face and she closed her eyes smiling. _Oh what have I done? What have I done? What have I d-_

"Neville Longbottom" she chirped, her voice as melodic as a bird's song. He opened his eyes, realizing that he too had shut them. When he did so her face was just centimeters from his and she placed her hand gently against his cheek. Then she leaned in and kissed him and he felt as though he had never been so happy in his life. They pulled apart but she kept her hand on his face and he placed his own hand over hers. "I love you too!" she said and kissed him again and when they broke apart this time she rested her head on his shoulder and sang a sweet song and Neville knew that was the perfect moment.

_A.N.: Thanks so much for reading this! Please Review, it would really help me to improve._


End file.
